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The Nereida MOWC
project will demonstrate the successful incorporation of OWC technology
with Wells turbine power take-off into a newly constructed rubble mound
breakwater in Mutriku, in the North coast of Spain, being the first
breakwater wave energy project in Europe and showing its viability for
future commercial projects
The NEREIDA OWC projects pursues several
specific objectives:
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To assess the performance of the
various components and the overall performance of the power
plant
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To correlate site performance
against the predictions of a wave to wire model
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To compare alternative blade forms
on the wells turbine in terms of damping, conversion efficiency
and nose generation
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To monitor the electrical output and
consider the implications on power quality
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To measure the influence of
absorbing power using wave energy plant on the structure loading
of the breakwater
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To assess the reliability and the
maintenance requirements, and to demonstrate the survivability
of the plant in extreme wave conditions
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To assess the environmental impact
and the economics of the power plant, and to identify further
cost reductions
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To develop a business plan for the
future development of OWC in breakwaters of Europe
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To disseminate the project results
to facilitate the development of OWC and other Ocean wave
Technologies
Eight OWC cells will be constructed to give
an active collector length of close to 100 meters. Power take-off
involves multiple turbine, each turbine being rated at 18.5kWe. Two
turbines will be fitted to each OWC cell giving 16 turbines in total and
a total installed power of 300kW.
The application of this technology at
Mutriku will not only demonstrate the functional synergy between
breakwaters and OWC systems but will do so in a location which, in
contrast to previous European wave energy demonstrators, is in a urban
location. There is good access to the OWC units via the breakwater and
the application of the technology at these particular location will
greatly increase the knowledge of the environmental acceptability of the
system.
The integration of the wave energy converter
into a dual or multi-purpose structure as a breakwater has the advantage
of sharing the construction costs and reduces the environmental impacts
resulting from integrating into other infrastructure. The project aims
to bring wave energy technology closer to commercial exploitation by
demonstrating the integration of the Oscillating Water Columns (OWC)
technology into breakwaters, at more competitive costs.
For more information about the project:
José Ramón López
EVE - Ente Vasco de la Energía
International and Studies Department
Alameda de Urquijo, 36 - 1ª Planta
Edificio Plaza Bizkaia
48011 Bilbao (SPAIN)
Phone.: +34 94 403 56 00
Fax: +34 94 403 56 98
E-mail:
jrlopez@eve.es
with the support of
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